Auction buyers stay cautious as fewer than half of homes sell

Australia’s auction market remained firmly in buyers’ favour over the weekend, with preliminary figures showing fewer than half of properties offered through one major agency network were sold.

Domain reported Ray White recorded a national preliminary clearance rate of 42.6 per cent on Saturday, up from 35.5 per cent a week earlier. The improvement was welcome for sellers, but the result still points to a market where unsuccessful campaigns outnumber sales.

Results varied sharply between capitals. Ray White’s preliminary rate was 67.4 per cent in Melbourne, 48.5 per cent in Sydney and just 27.7 per cent in Brisbane, according to Domain.

The figures cover one agency group rather than the entire market, and preliminary rates can change as more results are reported. They nevertheless provide a timely indication of buyer confidence after the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.85 per cent on 3 November.

A weak starting point

The weekend followed the softest completed national auction result since the early months of the pandemic.

Cotality’s final data for the week ending 1 November put the combined-capital clearance rate at 40.7 per cent, down from 65.8 per cent at the same time last year and the lowest result since April 2020.

The research group counted 1,713 capital-city auctions that week, 18.8 per cent fewer than a year earlier. Sydney’s final clearance rate was 45.1 per cent, Melbourne’s was 44.3 per cent and Brisbane’s was 23.8 per cent.

Cotality expected scheduled capital-city auction volumes to rise 6.6 per cent to 1,826 in the week ending 8 November. That remained 40.5 per cent below the 3,068 auctions held during the corresponding week of 2025.

The combination of low clearance rates and reduced volumes is significant. It suggests the weak results cannot simply be attributed to an unusually large rush of vendors overwhelming demand. Both buyers and sellers are holding back.

Price expectations decide which homes sell

Ray White NSW head of performance Callum Hogan told Domain the market was operating at two speeds. Well-positioned homes with vendors who accepted current conditions could still attract competition, while ambitious expectations were producing auctions with little or no bidding.

That distinction matters because a clearance rate is not solely a measure of demand. It also reflects whether sellers are prepared to meet the price buyers can finance and justify.

Higher mortgage rates have reduced borrowing capacity and increased repayments. At the same time, buyers have more advertised stock to compare and less reason to make a rushed decision.

For sellers, using an old comparable sale from a rising market can lead to an unrealistic guide or reserve. A passed-in auction may still produce a sale through later negotiation, but it can also lengthen the campaign and weaken the vendor’s bargaining position.

Buyers should still assess each property separately

A low clearance rate does not mean every auction will be quiet. Renovated homes, scarce property types and well-located dwellings can still attract several determined bidders.

Buyers should set a limit using recent settled sales rather than relying on the quoted guide or the broader market narrative. They should also be ready for post-auction negotiations if a property passes in.

A bidder who makes the highest offer generally receives the first opportunity to negotiate with the vendor. However, buyers should not allow that position to push them beyond their approved finance or their assessment of the property’s value.

Sellers need to examine bidder registrations, inspection numbers, comparable sales and pre-auction offers together. If those signals consistently fall short of the intended reserve, changing strategy before auction day may be preferable to testing an unsupported price in public.

What it means for you

• Buyers have more leverage, but desirable homes can still produce strong competition.
• Set a firm auction limit based on recent settled sales and current borrowing costs.
• Sellers should treat buyer feedback as evidence when setting the reserve.
• Preliminary clearance rates are useful indicators, not final market results.